Fish stocks are not "in decline"; overfishing is not occurring in our region or anywhere on the west coast of the USA.

Rockfish:Best available science shows that west coast populations of rockfish & other groundfish are rapidly recovering, and increasing in biomass, as a result of existing fishery management measures.

Not all rockfishes have declined in abundance over the past two decades. A number of species such as chilipepper, yellowtail rockfish, gopher rockfish, and blackgill rockfish are above their target levels, with estimated spawning biomass ranging from 52 to 97% of unfished levels (Figure 15-3). These rockfish inhabit a wide range of habitats which span nearshore, shelf, and slope depths. Although relatively abundant, landings for some of these species are near historical lows as a result of catch restrictions associated with rebuilding species that co-occur with these abundant stocks.

Salmon:For all species, there is excess fishing capacity and overcapitalization of the fishing fleets.

Because Pacific salmon depend on freshwaterhabitat for spawning and juvenile rearing, theyare particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation.Dam construction, logging, agriculture, grazing,urbanization, and pollution have degradedfreshwater habitat throughout their range. Waterextraction and flow manipulation for hydropower,irrigation, flood control, and municipal needs directlycompete with salmon for the fresh water onwhich they depend. As the human population inthe western United States continues to increase, sowill the pressures on salmon habitat. The fact thatwe still have salmon in harvestable quantities is atribute to the resilience of these fish.